


A Tragic Beginning

by BSBLover2538



Category: Backstreet Boys
Genre: Concussions, Fire, Firefighters, Hospitals, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25191568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSBLover2538/pseuds/BSBLover2538
Summary: Opening his eyes to his workplace on fire, AJ scrambles to find survivors, and find one that alters his life as he knows it.
Relationships: AJ McLean/Kevin Richardson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	A Tragic Beginning

A groan pierced the ears of the lone man standing. The carnage around him had him searching desperately for survivors. Pulling the rubble up, he followed the groan to a corner of the ruined office. Moving a piece of sheetrock, he uncovered a young man, the green eyes dully staring right through to him. Reaching a hand out, the man helped the other individual stand up. 

“What happened?” the young man asked, his head feeling woozy. 

“All I heard was a large crashing sound, and everything went black. I only just woke a few minutes ago. It’s a miracle I wasn’t hurt” AJ swallowed harshly as he looked around him. 

The room was a total mess. He knew that there were almost 40 people working on the floor he was on. He didn’t know how many were still alive. Looking back at the other male, he knew they had to get out if they could. 

“Kevin, right?” AJ asked, and the young man nodded. 

“Yes Alex” AJ nodded, and grabbed Kevin’s hand. 

“Come on, let’s see if we can get out of here. We are only on the second floor, so we should be able to get out” AJ pulled Kevin, but the younger man was rooted to where he was. 

“But, what about the others?” he asked, his green eyes roving the room, the walls collapsed around them. 

“We can’t Kevin, we need to go. The firefighters will find the others, if there are any other survivors. Come on” AJ tugged on the hand, and Kevin finally followed him. 

Creeping down the hallway, AJ could tell that they were almost trapped. The other floors had fallen through, and there wasn’t much leeway anywhere. Spying a blown window, AJ tugged the two of them over, and heard the sirens, and saw many firefighters on the walkway below. He stuck his head out and yelled. 

“Hey! We need help!” he screamed, and the firefighters looked up. They all scattered, grabbing ladders, and one scrambled up the metal nimbly. 

“How many do you have?” she asked, and AJ pointed to himself and Kevin. She nodded, and yelled down to the ground. 

“I have two rescues here!” 

“Can you both climb down the ladder?” she asked, turning back to them. 

“I can, but I think Kevin has a concussion, I don’t want him to fall off the ladder” AJ reported, and the firefighter nodded. 

“I’ll guide you down, and come back up for him. Kevin, stay here please” the firefighter looked at the other man, who nodded. 

“I’ll stay here” he promised, and AJ clamped his hand on his shoulder, before disappearing down the ladder. The firefighter guided him down, and an EMT grabbed AJ. Lauren quickly climbed back up the ladder. 

“Kevin, I want you to get on my back, I’ll carry you down that way” Kevin looked unsurely at the female firefighter. He wasn’t sure if she could carry his weight. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, grabbing his head. It was pounding, and the dizziness was increasing rapidly. Lauren grabbed him gently, put him on her back, and scaled the ladder down, making a quick decision. 

“Brian, he’s got a concussion, I’m almost positive. Get him to an ambulance and check him out pronto” Lauren set Kevin down on the ground, and looked at the EMT that ran over. 

“Got it Kitt, thanks” Brian waved over his partner, and between him and Nick, they got Kevin to the ambulance and settled on the gurney. 

“AJ, where’s AJ?” Kevin questioned, his vision blurry. All he wanted to do was sleep, but Brian kept telling him he couldn’t go to sleep yet. 

“He’s over there. He’s okay. Just some cuts and bruises and a minor headache” Nick reported, he had worked on AJ a bit before Brian had waved him over. His coworker Leigh was now working on AJ, who was almost done. 

“Sleep” Kevin muttered, his eyes fluttering shut. 

“Kevin! You can’t sleep yet. Tell me something, anything. What’s your job, favorite color, anything” Brian shook his arm gently, and Kevin opened his eyes. 

“I’m an advertising intern. AJ works on the same floor as me. My favorite color is blue, I have two older brothers, and I just moved here 2 weeks ago. What happened?” Kevin looked blankly at the two men who were working on him. 

“The foundation collapsed, and it sent the whole building down. The crash was the foundation cracking in half and caving in. We could see that almost immediately. Thankfully there was no one in the basement, but I don’t think we are gonna find any survivors on the first floor” a firefighter walked up, it looked to be the Chief. 

The four could hear the screams and rushed chaos going on outside the ambulance. A knock came, and AJ popped his head in. Kevin choked back a sob as he saw his coworker. 

“Alex…!” he wiggled his fingers, and the older man grabbed his hand. He looked at the two EMTs. 

“How is he?” the brown eyes crinkled in concern. 

“Definite concussion” Nick confirmed, and AJ sighed. 

“Does he need to go to the hospital?” 

“Yes, we need to confirm that he doesn’t have a brain bleed or something worse. Are you going to come with him?” Brian asked, and AJ looked down at Kevin. The frightened green eyes were pleading with the older man to come with him. 

“I’ll come with him” AJ confirmed, squeezing Kevin’s hand. 

Nick nodded, and looked at Brian. The older blonde looked at AJ. The dark haired man knew he couldn’t stay in the back with Kevin. 

“Kevin, look at me please” the cloudy green eyes looked at AJ blankly. 

“I have to go up front with Brian. Nick will be back here with you taking care of you. I promise I will be right there with you when we get to the hospital” AJ explained. Kevin whimpered, but nodded. 

AJ followed Brian out of the back of the ambulance, and got into the passenger side. Brian turned the key, and they made their way to the hospital. Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up, and AJ hopped out, racing to the back. Brian and Nick got the gurney out, and Kevin reached for AJ’s hand. 

“Sorry, I hate hospitals” he rasped out, and AJ nodded, grabbing his hand. 

“It’s fine, I’m here” 

Over the next several hours, Kevin was checked out, and it was deemed that he had a severe concussion, and needed to stay overnight to be watched. AJ instantly said he would stay with Kevin, at least until visiting hours ended. He had been moved to his own room about an hour ago, and AJ had gone with him. 

“Why? You barely know me” Kevin looked at the older man, relief and curiosity in his eyes. AJ shrugged, fiddling with a hole in his jeans. 

“I just want to make sure you are okay. I don’t know what else to do. I really don’t want to think about the fact that we both will probably need to find new jobs now, or what the state of the company is in. Thankfully I took the bus into work today, I can grab a taxi home” AJ looked at the younger man. 

“What about our coworkers? Have you heard anything at all?” Kevin asked, and winced as the door slammed open. AJ turned to glare at the intruder, who bit her lip.

“Sorry Mr. Richardson, I didn’t mean to do that. How are you feeling?” The nurse asked, and Kevin sighed. 

“I’m in pain, can I have anything?” he inquired, and the nurse looked at his chart. 

“I need to ask your doctor, the final results are still coming in. I’ll be back” she bustled out, and Kevin whimpered slightly. AJ reached over and squeezed his hand, before his phone rang. He cursed and looked, it was their boss. Pulling his phone to his ear, he mouthed to Kevin. 

“Boss” Kevin nodded, and closed his eyes, listening to AJ’s side of the conversation. The older man moved to the window, looking out at the evening sky. 

About ten minutes later, AJ hung up, and dropped back in the chair, putting his head in his hands. He rubbed his face, trying to keep the tears at bay. Looking up into Kevin’s green eyes, he shuddered a bit. The younger man knew this wouldn’t be good news. 

“Boss went to the building, and there were only a few other survivors. Only one other person on our floor survived. 90% of the people in the building perished. The firefighters aren’t done completely, but it’s looking very grim” AJ choked out, and Kevin bowed his own head. 

“What else did he say?” Kevin hesitantly spoke, a lump in his throat. 

“He’s letting us go, he’s going to shut the company down. He’ll give us severance packages, but he won’t be able to continue with the business” AJ replied, the events of the day finally hitting the two men. Both broke down into tears for the losses they had now suffered. 

Ten minutes later, they had wiped the first set of tears away, and looked at each other. Neither could have imagined this day starting this way. A few minutes later, a nurse came in with pain meds, and she looked at AJ. 

“This medicine will make Kevin sleepy, and it’s the end of visiting hours, you can come back when he is discharged tomorrow” AJ nodded and stood up. 

“Here, this is my card with my phone number, home and cell on it. Call me in the morning and I’ll come pick you up” AJ looked at Kevin, who nodded, pointing to the bag at the end of his bed. 

“Grab my phone from my jeans” he asked, and AJ nodded, doing so. Kevin punched AJ’s numbers in, and texted the older man. AJ nodded, and reached down squeezing Kevin’s hand, brushing his long hair back. 

“See you tomorrow” AJ smiled, a little strained. Kevin nodded, both having unshed tears in their eyes again. 

“See you then” Kevin replied, as AJ let his hand go. The older man walked out of the room, and went to the elevator. The tears fell down his cheeks, but he looked at his phone. 

“Thank you, and we need to stick together” he read, and AJ softly smiled. Through the tragic day, Kevin had gotten under AJ’s skin, and he wanted to be there for the younger man. He knew they would probably end up leaning on each other, and he intended to be there for Kevin, just as Kevin would be for him. 

Collapsing into bed half an hour later, AJ knew that this day had changed his life, for the good and bad. He mourned the loss of his coworkers, and his job. But rescuing Kevin, and being there for the younger man throughout the entire day had grounded him, given him purpose in the chaos of everything. AJ knew that this was the beginning of something new, and he wasn’t sure where it would lead, but he had followed his gut for years, and it never steered him wrong. He knew that it wouldn’t start now, and the future could only get better from here. 


End file.
